Pascal Pape captained France against Italy on Sunday but was forced off early in the second-half with a back injury. Dusautoir, the 2011 IRB Player of the Year, skippered France throughout the 2012 Six Nations but sat out the autumn internationals as he was battling back from injury. But with Pape sidelined, Dusautoir will take on the captain's armband once again.

Saint-Andre has opted to draft in Toulon's Jocelino Suta as a replacement for Pape in the squad but despite their 23-18 loss to Italy on Sunday, the French coach is reluctant to make wholesale changes.

"Aside from Pascal Pape's injury we resisted the temptation to make changes to the squad as we wanted to work on turning them into a more cohesive unit and also we have one day less to prepare them for the game," Saint-Andre said. "I hope that will pay off in terms of cohesion and defying the Welsh on Saturday and there will be a united hunger to do so.

"I have along with Yannick Bru (the forwards coach) and Patrice Lagisquet (the backs coach), re-watched the match several times, analysed and dissected the game and the players. We have remarked on several moments of errors and lack of lucidity and fluency in Sunday's game.

"It is imperative that our team rediscovers its' collective hunger, enthusiasm and spontaneity. The tournament is far from over, our ambition is still there to show our best in a high quality competition."